Sunglasses, Viking Navigation and Astronomy with Polarimetry

• Concert
• Astronomy talk by world-renowned scientists
• Viewing through the historic 36-inch Great Lick Refractor telescope
• Viewing through the 40-inch Nickel Reflector telescope
• Astronomy discussions with amateur astronomers and viewing through small telescopes

Polarimetry is perhaps the least well known property of light. It was discovered in the 1800s, but before that it was the key to accurate Viking navigation. Today it is an enabling technology in everyday items like sunglasses. Traditionally, in astronomy, it has been used to understand magnetic fields and the dust between stars, as well as the atmospheres of planets. Recent advances in precision are now enabling new discoveries to be made about the atmospheres of stars as well. In this talk I will describe what polarisation is, and how it is used in each of these areas.